In this issue: Students have their say on the Gravel Pits * Author Visits by Sophie McKenzie
& Lauren Oliver * Year 7 Science Conference * University of Southampton Languages and
Enterprise Challenge * ICT Conference Residential Visit to France * International Fashion
Rocks 2011 * Year 9 London Trip * Royal Marine Visit March 2011 and lots more

Welcome to the first edition of ‗The Voice‘. The spring term has been a very busy time
for staff and students, both in the classroom and beyond. Much has been happening
and I hope that you enjoy reading about so many of the student successes across the
college.
This has been a hugely successful term and I would like to thank all our staff for their
phenomenal hard work for the students.
I‘d also like to thank you, the parents and carers for your support with our young people. Hamble
Community Sports College and our students are a delight to be with.
I am genuinely pleased with the way students have engaged with the
„Dress Smart – Think Smart – Be Smart‟
Uniform code introduced on my arrival to the college in January. It is clear to see that students are
proud of their uniform and staff have identified a sharper focus to learning as entry to the classroom is
aligned with the uniform expectation.
On April 26 the summer term begins. However warm and sunny the days, school uniform rules
still apply. I request that you please support the college uniform expectation.
Would you please check particularly the length of your daughters‘ skirts to ensure that they
are smart and meet with the uniform code (maximum 10 cm above the knee). In particular
please do not buy skirts that are clearly too short.
If in doubt please refer to the uniform code on the college website.
Have a very happy Easter and I look forward to a great summer term.

Gerry Halley-Gordon
Principal

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Students have their say on the Gravel Pits
Students had a chance to make their opinion count during their English lessons last week. A wide variety of classes
in all year groups were given the chance to write letters to the Planning and Development department of Hampshire
County Council and give their opinions on the controversial plans to turn Hamble airfield into gravel pits.
The letters had to be written to a tight deadline – Mrs Halley-Gordon had a courier waiting to whisk them away on
Thursday morning – but the students responded fantastically well. All the letters were well-argued, well-considered
and clear, and the vast majority hit the required level of formality. Many students have been asking if there has been
any response from the council yet, and wondering if their letters have made a difference to the gravel-pit plans.
Teachers in the English department noticed that having a ‗real-world‘ context for the letters gave the students an
added impetus to make their writing powerful and persuasive. This is the basis of the Functional Skills agenda in
English and it certainly made a difference to the motivation of some learners. As a department, we are going to be
looking out for other opportunities to give our students a real reason for their writing, although we hope that the
Hamble area doesn‘t have too many more environmental issues to protest about!
Mr O‘Farrell

“Not all questions can be answered, but all answers
must be questioned”
A Philosophical approach to learning in English
The need for good communication and thoughtful consideration within
our ever changing society is widely recognised at Hamble College. Within
the English department we have been striving to find a way of enabling
our students to listen to one another, to challenge assumptions, and to
offer independent opinions; through the use of ―Philosophy for Children‖
(P4C).
This technique allows students to explore and question topics that they
would not normally discuss in an environment that encourages all to
participate. In taking part in these whole class discussions our pupils are
learning skills that are vital for their educational development across all
curriculums. ―P4C‖ provides students with the space, structure and
disciplines to pursue exploratory discussions and widen and breakdown
barriers.
In using this discussion technique the English department have noticed
that students have developed a higher capacity to focus on more
complex words and ideas. This has in turn given the pupils the power to
transform their performance as readers and writers.
Students‘ thoughts on P4C;

Year 10 Media Students
Year 10 students who chose Media as
an option were rewarded with such
topics as; music promotion ,Action
adventure movies and designing a
magazine. In one unit they had to put
together a portfolio including videos, web
pages and interviews on the topic of
―Showing teenagers in a positive light‖.
These excellent portfolios included, The
Sea Scouts, a Gold medal winning sailor
and teenagers caring for the elderly in
the community. The presentations of
their work to their teachers was of the
highest quality.

Mr Jenks

―A chance to learn about yourself and find your voice . . .‖
―We get to talk about things we‘re interested in and get to lead our own
discussion . . .‖
―We get to talk about things that we wouldn‘t normally….‖
―You‘re not afraid to share your opinion or to challenge others about
theirs‘‖

Miss Fuller
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Lauren Oliver Author Visit
On the 24th March some of our female Year 9 students
were chosen to meet the American author Lauren
Oliver. After a nail-biting wait, to see if she was well
Enough to come, she gave a fantastic talk
to two groups. Some writers write beautiful
stories; some write fun books; some write
serious topics.
Lauren is a mix of them all. Inspiration for
her second novel, ‗Delirium‘, came from
the most unlikely of places –on the treadmill
at her local gym, watching the news. She
pieced together other ideas and, lucky
for us, came up with a brilliant novel. She
was an inspiration to all our budding writers.
Her American editor at Harper Collins wrote
that, ―Everything Lauren touches turns to
gold – she is exceptional.‖ She first signed
her on the strength of the first 60 pages of
‗Before I Fall‘. It really showed our
students what an impact a strong start to a
story can give and the impression it leaves with the
reader.
Hamble Community Sports College was chosen to host
this event because of our students‘ exemplary behaviour
at other author events. Well done to all those students
who took part. Lauren thought you were all fantastic and
would love to come again.
Mrs Kirby
Library Resource Manager

Sophie McKenzie Author Visit
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On the 12 January we were lucky enough to receive a
visit from the award winning author, Sophie McKenzie.
Everyone was very excited about the day and it was
very much anticipated. When Sophie arrived she spent
some time in the Library with some of our teachers and
our librarian Mrs Kirby.
After having some photographs taken, Sophie headed
over to the hall, where excited students from Hamble
Community Sports College, Fort Hill, Henry Cort,
Swanmore, Thornden and Wildern had gathered.

Sophie talked about her series of books, ‘The Medusa
Project‘ and read an extract from her
new book, ‗Hunted‘. It was amazing to
get to know the background of her
novels and how they started. Sophie
then answered any questions people
had, which was a great opportunity to
get inside an author‘s head.
After that, everyone then had the
chance to buy one of Sophie‘s books,
which she would then sign. Overall, it
was a fantastic day and I am so glad
that I got to take part in it.

Jessica Christian -Year 9

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Mathematics Department
Year 7&8 Maths Club
Year 7&8 maths club has been running this term on a Tuesday from 3-4pm.
The club is designed to give students the opportunity to take part in a variety of puzzles and strategy games for
problem solving and logical thinking, with some tricks to impress family and friends. Some activities are computer
based, some pencil and paper and some are hands-on.
Around twenty students have been coming along and they are encouraged to take their experiences home and
share them with family and friends!
Thank you to Ollie Bampton, Katie Bartlett, Daisy Bressington and Jose Ojeda Leo for
sharing their experience and some of the activities from Team Maths Challenge with the
rest of the maths club members.

UKMT Maths Challenges
On Thursday 3rd February all students from 9A0 and two students from year 10AO took part in the United Kingdom
Maths Intermediate Maths Challenge, a competition run by Leeds University. The top 40% of students nationally
are awarded certificates so big congratulations go to Justin Auger who received gold and best in school, Leah
Donnarumma and Joe Smith who received silver and Amy Gardiner, Ellen Cole, Daniel Tuley, Ashleigh Ings,
Grace Mcpherson, Ella Veal, Katie Eldridge, Christopher Smith, Ashleigh Mathieson and Jessica Christian
who all received bronze certificates.
Justin Auger is also to be congratulated for going through to the next stage of the competition, known as the UKMT
Olympiad, for which we are awaiting results.
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On Tuesday 15 February Katie Bartlett, Daisy Bressington, Jose Ojeda Leo and Ollie Bampton were our
representatives at the UKMT Team Maths Challenge, taking part in the regional finals at Lord Wandsworth
College, Hook. During this day teams work to solve questions of varying type and difficulty and develop their
teamwork skills through this.
A big well done goes to the students, for preparing for the challenge in their lunch break and after college and for
participating so enthusiastically on the day. They all received certificates of participation.
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On Friday 6 May some students in years 7 and 8 will be taking part in the Junior Maths Challenge. We will let
you know how they do!

Year 11 Exam Preparation
Building on our October half term revision for the November GCSE
and the encouraging results from this exam, we continue to
support our year 11 students with their preparation for the summer
examination season.
Revision sessions take place after college, materials and links are
on the VLE and there will be May half term revision days. Please
contact the department via email if you would like further
information.
The Maths Team

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Year 7 Science Conference – STEM
To participate in the National
Cells

Science and Engineering
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Week, on 17 March, all Year
7s took part in our Stem Cell
Conference. This formed
part of the year 7 cells project.

The conference brought the whole of year 7 together in
the hall to listen to presentations by 5 different guest
speakers. They gave the students a balanced view of
current research in to the topic of embryonic stem cells.
The students participated well taking an active role in
the conference. Overall, students found the conference
a different and helpful way to receive the information.
Some students‘ comments included:
―It was better than hearing it from just our teacher‖; ―The different people made it interesting to listen to‖; ―The
sheet helped me listen for information‖.
During the rest of the term‘s Science lessons, students used their notes from the conference to write a report
on the use of embryonic stem cells in the treatment of diseases. They reviewed the ideas presented and gave
their opinion on the ethics and whether this type of research should be continued.
Mrs Dalton

Catapult Investigation - 9B3

New from Learning Support

Catapult Investigation - 9B3 Science
Science

During a recent college ‗inset‘ day, two members of the Learning
Support department were invited to present a showcase for the
Eastleigh Consortium at Toynbee School. The content of the
presentation related to sharing good practice by ‗Engaging Reluctant
Readers‘ and provided an insight into ‗Literacy for Sport‘.

Some Year 9 students recently
investigated the science behind catapult
design. They took part in a three week
project, where amongst many topics
they looked at the science of elastic
bands including the strength of rubber,
what mass they could hold before
breaking and what was the best material
from which to construct a catapult.
After weeks of experimentation, the
group was ready to test fire their
machines on the college field. After
considering all the safety issues they
undertook a controlled test and
collected their data. The results were
outstanding the smallest distance
achieved was a respectable 9m, but the
winning distance was a fantastic 29.5 m!
The winners of the challenge were
Reece LeMarechal and Elliott Foulkes.
The runners up were Kurtis Weatherall,
and Ryan Clarke. Special awards went
to Chelsea Stanley and Rebecca Green
for their superb understanding of
science investigations.
Mr Ventham
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The participants thought the sessions were inspiring and informative.
We were recently contacted by staff at Mountbatten School who had
attended the showcase. They are interested in visiting our college to
find out more regarding our differentiation approach for reluctant
readers and how to improve the reading ages of their Year 7.
Within the Learning Support Department we promote the progress of
students‘ reading through the Accelerated Reader (AR) programme.
AR is a computer software programme which immediately assesses
students‘ reading skills and provides diagnostic reports for further
progression.
The students enjoy AR as they are able to read a book at their own
pace, pass a quiz relating to the book and receive rewards for doing so.
Over the years this
reading strategy has
proved to be
successful, with many
of our students
moving from reluctant
readers to confident
readers.
Mrs McClure

University of Southampton Languages and Enterprise Challenge
Eight Year 10 students (Justin Auger, Abigail Hand, Aaron Goff, Claire Brunning, Alex Cutler, Charlie Bartlett, Chloe
Martin and Lucy-Jo French) in two teams of four, students did themselves and the College proud when they
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participated in the annual Languages and Enterprise Challenge, which took place at Southampton University on 4
April. This event is designed for students to use their language in a ‗real‘ context and combine them with creative,
communication and enterprise skills to carry out an authentic business task in competition with teams from other
Hampshire Schools. The event also aims to raise awareness amongst students of the very real benefits of
possessing foreign language skills both to enhance their own opportunities in the world of work and the importance
of acquiring foreign language skills to develop inter cultural understanding.
The task this year was for students to design a three day package for visitors disembarking from cruise ships which
would highlight the many attractions that are available to visitors in Southampton and the surrounding area. The
students had to design a company logo, organise itineraries, activities and accommodation, and determine client
groups and costings. They began at 9.30 working to tight deadlines which were designed to encourage efficient use
of resources and develop time management skills. It was a gruelling but rewarding task with the students working
independently without any input from teachers. The students also used their IT skills to research information and
produce a presentation in French for an ‗Alan Sugar‘ type grilling, which was again conducted in French, from a
panel of business mentors.
The competition was extremely tough with Hamble up against the best linguists from schools such as Wildern,
Henry Beaufort, Thornden, St. Annes, Romsey, and Cantell.. There was much anticipation and excitement when all
the competing teams were brought together at 2pm for a presentation and the announcement of the results from the
Mayor of Southampton and a representative from Cunard. One of the Hamble teams (comprising Alex Cutler,
Charlie Bartlett, Chloe Martin and Lucy-Jo French) did incredibly well, forcing the judges, into what they admitted,
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was an intensely difficult decision, eventually finishing in 2 place by a solitary point!
A very well done to ‗nos hommes et femmes‘ d‘affaires‘

Successes in French
Year 9
167 year 9 students sat the OCR Asset Languages examination in the three skills of
Listening, Reading and Writing in 2010. Of these, 76% achieved a pass in all 3
skills at level 1, 2 or 3, with 99.4% achieving a pass in one or more skill areas.
These successes were recognised in a recent assembly where Mrs Halley-Gordon
congratulated students and handed them a certificate celebrating their success.

Year 10
Of the 76 students who attempted to build on their success the previous year, 95%
passed one or more skills at the higher levels, 4, 5 or 6, with 43% achieving all 3
skills of Listening, Reading and Writing.
Well done from the Modern Foreign Languages team.
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ICT Conference Residential Visit to France

Digital Media and Gaming Club

It was the first time that the ICT Department had taken
students out on a residential trip. From March 5-8, 2011
students chaperoned by Mrs. Russell went to the ICT
conference hosted in Disneyland Paris.

There has been excellent attendance at the
Digital Media and Gaming Club after college on
Wednesdays, in the ICT rooms. Everyone has
had a lot of fun and all have built up useful
experience of working together in team games.

Once there, students feasted on the knowledge, wisdom and
expertise of speakers such as Ian Livingstone, Alena
Dundas and Daniel West - pioneers in the ICT Business
world. Students felt so informed and empowered that they
reported in their evaluation:
―I gained confidence and now know what I want to do
when I leave school.‖ (George Blaylock-Squibbs)

We have just started a three week gaming
competition with an MP3 player as the first prize.
Currently there are 19 tournament entrants and
Adam Dyer in year 7 is in first place so far closely followed by Jack Burnett (year 7) and
Gerald Finn (year 11).
Mr Sangster

―They showed you the way to be successful in ICT and
how to do it‖. (Sam Brickwood)
―It weeded out the useless courses that won‟t help me.‖
(Amy Humphries)
―How to take the next step for a future in ICT.‖ (Jack
Crook)
―Confidence and enjoying your work.‖ (Haydyn Cozens)
During the intermission of the conference, George BlaylockSquibbs took the opportunity and spoke with Ian Livingstone
who sets up Games Workshop and launched Dungeons &
Dragons. It is without doubt that this experience has
broadened the scope of their horizons and has enabled
them to look more meaningfully into their future.

Academic Achievements

Apart from the conference, students enjoyed the varied
delights and lure of the Disney Park. We even ventured into
the centre of Paris by visiting Notre Dame.

On March 23 2011 an ICT external examiner
from OCR sampled ICT students' coursework for
moderation.

Overall it was a rewarding and enjoyable experience and we
say thanks to Mr. Russell for his support.

Mrs. Russell‘s students, David Akhurst, Andrew
Gittins, Emily Halladay and Thomas Smith were
commended for the quality of work produced with
grades for particular units of work ranging from
Merits to Distinctions... well done!!!

Mrs Bridgemahon-Russell

rd

ICT Department

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Work Experience 2011
This term has witnessed the successful completion of Year 10 work experience and all of the students who took
part should be very proud of their achievements and certainly we, as a College, are very proud to have them as
members of our community.
In the current economic climate securing a work experience placement is becoming increasingly more difficult and
to their credit the students went about this task with enthusiasm and endeavour. All students at Hamble have the
opportunity of securing a job through their own motivation or logging on to a website and searching through a list
of work placements. The process of applying for a job and attending interview is a valuable experience for the
students and one that they will eventually have to complete when they finish their education.
Whilst on their placement students have the responsibility of completing a work experience diary which affords
them the opportunity of reflecting on their days work and gaining a more in-depth understanding of what day to day
employment entails and the specific skills that you need in order to cope.
The College has been delighted to receive a number of letters from employers expressing their positive views
about the students, commenting particularly on their levels of maturity and their willingness to tackle any task
placed before them. Importantly a number of students have been offered part time employment and significantly
some students have been offered full time employment when they finish their studies. This is a clear reflection of
the positive approach that the students have taken to work experience and they should all be congratulated for
this.
Finally, the College would like to take this opportunity to thank all those employers who kindly offered placements
to our Year 10 students, without their time and support the students would not have received this valuable learning
experience.
Mr Spiers

Academic Achievements
Hamble Skills Centre, part of Hamble Community Sports College, has had a great
second term with the many successful projects experienced by the students.
During February, the Marine Engineering students launched their first boat. The
boat had been designed and made by the students with the help of engineering
tutors from Eastleigh College. The launch was a great success; the boat had
good stability in the water and was raced by students across the pool in timed
trials.
John Murdoch, one of the Marine Engineering students said, â&#x20AC;&#x2022;We started by
cutting and measuring the basic shape of the dinghy and put it together. Next we
got the measurements for the seats and stuffed the inside of them with
polystyrene to help the boat float. After assembling the whole boat, we covered
the joints all around the boat with epoxy resin and fibre glass to seal any possible
leaks. We then sanded the whole boat to get a smooth finish to prepare it for the
paint; we used blue marine paint with thinner to get a strong good quality finish.
We also made paddles by using a router to get the circular handle and used other
equipment like a plane, sander and sand paper to get the shape at the end of the
paddle.
A few weeks later we were able to use the Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s pool to test our boat, and the
boat floated really well, which was a relief. We were all really pleased with our
work and had races up and down the pool for the afternoon, which was good fun.
We all really enjoyed building and using the boat; this was a really good
experience for us on the marine course.â&#x20AC;&#x2013;
The Construction students have completed their carpentry course and have now
moved onto masonry skills. The group has moved into the masonry workshop
and have been perfecting plastering, wall-building, tiling and some plumbing.
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International Fashion Rocks 2011
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On Tuesday 29 March 2011 Hamble School hosted the International
Fashion Rocks arts event. Since January, students from years 7-10 worked
with Teachers from The Arts and Textiles departments in curriculum time to
create marvellous pieces of work inspired by cultures from around the
world.
The event, now in its third year, was the most colourful yet and was once
again supported by a sell-out crowd of over 200 parents and local people.
This year‘s variety spectacular featured Art, Dance, Drama Music and
Textiles students that had been inspired by Indian/ British/ American/
African/Japanese/ Street and many other International cultures to get
creative.
This year‘s show received glowing reviews
―It was absolutely amazing‖ (Mrs Francis- Assistant Headteacher)
―An incredible celebration of talent from all students in so many different
aspects of Performing Arts. A great event!‖ (Mrs Halley-Gordon- College
Principal)
To make this event reality the students and staff completed work in creative
arts and art textiles lessons with many choosing to devote extra time to the
project after college. As a catalyst for work many students enjoyed
workshops from visiting artists from local arts organisations such as Wise
Moves/ Arts Asia/ Trap Media Ltd and DJ Workshops Ltd at the beginning
of the project.
The College Arts Team with like to thank all the college staff that supported
the event in so many different ways and to Live Wire for their lighting and
sound expertise. Most importantly we wish to thank our students and their
imaginative and creative talents as this is what makes the International
Fashion Rocks event so rich and diverse.

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Fabulous New Resources in the Music Department
Following our November Youth Sports Trust Workshop, the music department received a generous donation of
£1000 from the Trust. With this money we have recently purchased a classroom suite of Yamaha keyboards.

The YST workshop in November was
run in collaboration with the
Nationally acclaimed ―Musical
Futures‖ and involved song writing
and instrumental work for an Olympic
opening ceremony composition. The
piece of work was based on rhythms
found in sport and the day included a
visit from Olympian Tasha Danvers.

Recent work has included a DJ workshop for Year 8 in their Creative Arts
lessons in preparation for International Fashion Rocks and was led by Julie
Sacre.

In April, as part of the Electric Carnival, Year 7 and 8 students took part in
an exciting workshop with Ricky Tart. The day included music production,
beatboxing and sampling of music.

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Aliens rescue plan gets under-way.
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On March 22 and 24 all students from year 7 and 8 took part in a series
of workshops in curriculum time to „kick-off‟ The Electric Carnival
Project. The project was introduced to the students in February when the
aliens visited the college in a plea for help. The students of Hamble
College agreed to help the aliens by generating „creative energy‟ (the lifeblood of the aliens dying planet) by hosting an electric carnival on
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Thursday 30 June.
To inspire the Hamble Students imagination and creativity, artists from
Kinetica (an internationally known London based Arts Company) worked
with teachers to produce workshops;
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We would like to say a huge thank you to the artists and teachers
involved for giving us an insight into ways which we can help our alien
friends. Students that took part in the workshop said ;
“I thought the workshops were very exciting”- Charlotte Smith, Year 7.
“I loved the dance workshop- the way the costumes moved. Shayannya
gave us a glimps of the real carnival life.”- Evie Martin, Year 7.
Our Electric Carnival Project is just one of the „Imagination Our Nation‟
projects lead by Kinetika taking place across the country. All over Britain
there are 17 champions (aliens) that are helping local communities to
generate „creative energy‟ and ensure their planets survival and bring
imagination back to earth. For more information visit:
www.imaginationournation.co.uk or www.kinetika.co.uk
By Shannon Reed and Lauren Henderson (Year 7 Creative Artists)

Recycling meets Couture!
Year 10 Art Textile students have been very busy collecting recycling
this term, changing rubbish into Couture Fashion. Students were
creative and inventive using anything from dusters, old teddy bears,
train tickets, old books, carrier bags, paper plates and crisp packets.
In lessons, students started the ‗Recycling‘ project designing
organically on dress-making stands using paper and newspaper,
resulting in some exciting and fresh garment shapes. Students then
focused their ideas using recycling; exploring and experimenting with
a range of teacher taught and ‗self discovered‘ techniques creating
experimental texture fabrics. As a result of this project, the students
have worked with individuality and enthusiasm to create wacky,
forward thinking fashion garments using packaging materials. To
celebrate the students efforts these garments made a debut at this
year‘s ‗International Fashion Rocks‘. Well done year 10!
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Drama Department News
This term the BTEC Diploma students have been working on their two core units within their lessons for their
qualification. These were, the Business Process & production Process units. This involved the knowledge and
understanding of taking on different job roles while putting on a Production and running the Business side within
the Production; which included marketing, financing, stage management, producing, costumes, props, set design,
lighting, sound and many more job roles that a theatre company needs to ensure a successful show. The
planning, production meetings, designing, prop making, costume design, scenery building and painting, all took
place during BTEC lessons, while the actual rehearsals for the show took place after college every Tuesday and
Wednesday.
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Captain Hook, Lost
boys & Pirates

Peter Pan - Dean Wakefield
&Wendy Darling played by
Hannah Lovegrove,

Bonnie
McMurray as
Tinkerbell

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The College production of ‗Peter Pan‘ was on Thursday 10 & Friday 11
February and was a great success. Hamble Primary pupils came to watch the
matinee on the Thursday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed being drawn into
Neverland and all the mischief that went on between the lost boys, pirates,
Indians and different animals that roamed around. Some of the pupils encouraged
their parents to bring them again on the Friday evening.
The storytellers, Natasha Edwards and Polly Holladay, narrated the story clearly
and certainly helped, with the cast, to involve the audience into the land of make
believe. A member of the audience said, ‗I was magically transformed into a very
believable Neverland. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and
performance.‘
Dean Wakefield, who played Peter Pan, portrayed a very realistic boy who didn‘t
want to grow up and along with the lost boys they showed the imaginary fun and
games that all children display during their childhood. Wendy, played by Hannah
Lovegrove, portrayed a young girl growing up to be a caring and loving mother,
she also sang ‗Your mother and mine‘ beautifully. The characters of Captain
Hook, played by Peter Humphreys, Tinkerbell by Bonnie McMurray, Mr Darling by
Elliott Rudge and Mrs Darling, Amy-Jane Humphries also deserve a mention as
they portrayed their characters with vigour and passion.

The backstage crew, Front of House, Lighting, Sound and Production team,
which consisted of students only, worked extremely well and were a brilliant
committed team.
This was demonstrated through all the performances by the smooth running of
the show. Lastly I would like to thank the members of the staff that helped and supported me during the rehearsals
and performance evenings, especially the Site Team and Office Staff. So a very big well done and
congratulations to all!!
Many thanks to all for a very successful production of ‗Peter Pan‘ from the production team and Mrs Neal!

Mast Club
This half term in The Maths, Science and Technology
club, the students have been finding out what it‘s like to
be a Crime Scene Investigator.
The students were taught how to analyse blood evidence,
fibres and fingerprints, after this a mock crime scene was
set up.
Students had to collect evidence from the crime scene,
and analyse it themselves to come up with their own
version of what crime had happened and who was the
culprit.
Students greatly enjoyed this experience (especially wearing the all in one white crime scene suits) and were really
keen in their questioning of the possible suspects. They had many wild ideas about what ‗crime‘ had occurred, but
after carefully analysing their evidence they each came to their own conclusion, presenting this to the rest of the
students to see who had come closest to what had actually happened.
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Design Technology News

Design Technology Celebration

Cells
Design Technology news

Cells

Year 7 have been working on a new moisture
project within Product design. The moisture
sensor works by using an electronic circuit
which includes a buzzer and an LED. The
moisture sensor also has special probes that
can detect when the soil is moist and signal the
user. Students are developing their
understanding of simple systems, control and
how different electrical components work. The
students have all designed their own original
holder from a simple template and shown
excellent imaginative and designing skills.
Below is a range of students final designs

In the Product Design class
room the year 8‘s has yet
again produced some
fantastic Celtic Pendants.
They designed the pendant
moulds on 2D Design and
then cast them on the
braising hearth. The
students then went on to
design a display box for the
Yr 8 Celtic Pendants
pendant.
The pendants are polished to a high sheen to give them a
truly professional finish. Congratulations year 8.

The Technology team were
heavily involved with the
Rock Challenge event this
year. A huge set measuring
42‘ wide and 14‘ tall was
constructed along with 24
Vespa styled scooters that
the dancers used in their
performance. An after
school club was set up by
Wooden Vespa’s that were
Mr Ralls to construct the set
decorated by the dancers.
and over a period of four
months the Yr10 team worked vigorously to get the set built.
All the hard work paid off because they won best set design
and best back stage crew at the event which took place in
February.

A Team of five year nine boys are taking part in a Radio
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Controlled powerboat competition on 28 April. They have
been building a model semi rigid inflatable with an electric
motor. The competition will be against other schools and held
at the QinetiC test basin in Gosport. Hamble entered the
competition last year and won best boat design and came
fourth in the final race.

This year’s boat.
This eight week project has also developed
students‘ analytical skills as well as their
designing and manufacturing skills. Students
have really enjoyed this project and the
opportunity to be very creative for their chosen
user.

13

The 2010 boat.

Technology was also involved with the set building for Peter
Pan. This set included a row boat, patio doors, a dog kennel,
side profile of a galleon and a ships wheel.

Food Technology/Catering
Cells
38 of our Year 10 catering students were successful in
achieving their Level 2 Food Safety Award. This is a
nationally recognised qualification awarded by the
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

Some of the successful Catering students with their
certificates

Year 11 Catering students have been busy working on
the completion of their GCSE coursework which
includes a two hour practical task where they have to
produce and serve a healthy two course meal which is
suitable to be sold in a school canteen. The standard
of work this year has been excellent and we are very
proud of the abilities of our young chefs!
Vicky Cole’s two course meal.
Spaghetti Bolognese with homemade pasta and fresh
fruit tart.
Congratulations to Year 11 Catering student Charlie
Snoddon. Charlie represented the College in the
Future Chef Competition sponsored by Springboard
UK. After winning the College heat, kindly judged by
HC3S Area Manager Sally Anne Spargo HCIMA.
Charlie went on to compete in the local finalist‘s heat
held at South Downs College. Success at this stage
of the competition saw Charlie go onto compete in the
South East Regional Final!

Charlie’s Winning Menu
Fillet of Funtington Pork pan fried with black pudding;
Celeriac and potato rosti, topped with crispy pancetta,
served with a selection of vegetables and a grain
mustard sauce
*********
Sticky toffee pudding served with toffee sauce and
Crème Anglaise

Resistant Materials
Key
Stage 4 Year 10
Cells
Students in Resistant Materials have become very competitive within the two groups. Mr Homewood and Mr Ralls
have established a healthy rivalry between their classes and both believe their year 10 groups have the edge.
There have been some competitions where students created presentations on sustainability. These were then
judged by Mr Homewood and Mr Ralls, the overall winner was Robson McClure. Students are performing very
well overall and we have targeted these students to achieve the highest grades we have had within Resistant
Materials. All the students gained their ‗Workshop Health and Safety‘ certificate and are looking forward to start
the practical element of their GCSE controlled assessment after Easter.
14

3D Printer Build (STEM club)

Y9 Graphics Modelling Project Graphics

Five students from the MAST club (Maths and Science
Cells

Cells

Technology) have been building a special printer
capable of building 3D images. They have been working
with Mr Homewood on this project.
These students are: Jamie Stockdale Yr9, Bradley Hill
Yr8, Hannah Lovegrove Yr9, Dan Tuley Yr9 & Sam
McNaughton Yr9.
They have been building this printer with over 1,000
separate parts since January this year, they meet up
every week from 3-4 (ish) they are developing their
making and problem solving skills. They are also
developing their maths and technical skills in order to
make a very sophisticated 3D printer. They are hoping
to be finished by the end of next term.
Images of students working on the printer

Designed to give students
more choice in the projects
that they take part in, this is a good example of the
Design and Technology department personalising
the content of what they can offer.
Students can choose a variety of things to model;
here we have excellent examples of skate parks that
students are currently working on.
This project challenges students to take more
responsibility for their own projectâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; creating the
idea, drawing the scheme and parts, then managing
the time themselves to accurately re-create the scale
models.

Below is what the final printer will look like

See the examples of what is capable of being built.

15

Year 9 London Trip
th

At the start of the day on Thursday 11 March our group of geographers
took the two-hour journey to London. The first stop was the Natural History
Museum. It was a busy day but we still had time to see all the main
attractions in the red zone, including the model shop which recreated what it
would be like in an earthquake. We stood in the shaking shop and using a
seismometer application on a phone we measured the strength of the
earthquake on the Richter scale! We had lunch and set off for the London
Eye. Before we went on the eye there was a 4D experience, this took us on
a tour of London whilst bubbles and smoke floated through the cinema.
During this experience there were lots of screams! Then we went on the
London Eye, the pods took around twenty students each. As you climbed
higher you could see more and more of the sights in London. We took lots
of pictures so we could remember everything that happened on our
amazing trip.
By Hannah Lovegrove & Ami McCann

Fairtrade Fortnight 28th February â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13th March
Students across the school celebrated Fairtrade Fortnight this year during mentor time and in assemblies. They
learnt about the importance of Fairtrade and the benefits it brings to farmers across the world. Fairtrade bunting,
made by students, has decorated classrooms and corridors around the school showing our support for the
campaign. Congratulations to Christina Maple (LO OFR) and Eleanor Fitton (LO EGA) winners of the Fairtrade
poster competition who have both won a selection of Fairtrade goodies.

Year 11 Results
Congratulations to all Year 11 Geography students who sat their SDME exam in
June and January, Students worked very hard to prepare for their exam and
they achieved 67% A-C grades. After school revision classes will begin after
Easter and revision guides can be ordered via your teacher.
Miss Percival

16

Year 8 students have been investigating the history of Black
Americans, with a focus on slavery. Students have produced
diaries of slaves which use the skills of empathy, knowledge
and understanding to tell the story of kidnapping in Africa, the
―Middle Passage‖ and the treatment on plantations in North
America.
Year 9 students have continued their work on Twentieth
century history with a focus on the rise of the Nazi dictatorship
in Germany, and the causes of the Second World War.
Year 10 students continue to focus on German History 192947. A group of Year 10s are going on a residential visit to Berlin
at the end of the spring term. They will be visiting sites
connected to the Nazis including the Reichstag, the site of the
SS and Gestapo headquarters, the 1936 Olympic Stadium and
Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. (More details to follow in
the summer newsletter.) After Easter students will be sitting
their Year 10 practice exams and so revision of Paper 1 is a
now a key focus.
Year 11 students are now finishing the GCSE course, both
Paper 1 and 2, and their controlled assessments. They now
need to be using the Easter holiday to start revision with only a
short time before their exams start.

Religious Education
Year 8 students‘ have been very busy recently producing some excellent
masks and puppets to enhance their learning about the plight of endangered
animals in the world. In class, students have been researching different
religious views of the environment and what different religious leaders would
say about their animal‘s plight. The speeches that students wrote were
excellent and real empathy for their chosen endangered animal came through
in their writing.
Much of the students‘ work is on display in the Sports Complex as part of
‗Celebrating RE‘ month.
In the departments GCSE RS lessons, both Year 10 and Year 11 were able to
partake in workshops led by the Red Cross. In their session on ‗International
Humanitarian law‘, students‘ were asked to identify a curious green item. After
suggestions of it being a child‘s toy, a water bottle or a money pouch, we
discovered it to be a land mine!
It was really pleasing to see sometimes hesitant students‘ speaking up and
thinking about the rules of engagement when a country sends its soldiers to
war. Their learning about ‗Just War Theory‘ came into play when considering if
an air strike on a hospital in a war zone was ever appropriate. The Red Cross
presenters were really pleased at how our students‘ engaged with them and
actively sought to question each other about the rules of war.
Finally, congratulations to our Full course GCSE RS students‘ who sat exams
in June last year; Gemma Biggs, Katie Maxted, Sam Spencer, Sophie Fry, Jon
Hatfield, Gerald Skinner, Olivia Wrights and Ben Atkinson all achieved
excellent results. The county‘s RE inspector and Standing Advisory Council for
Religious Education (SACRE) has congratulated Hamble Community Sports
College, on our students getting a strong positive residual of+ 8.72 in the
subject when comparing our Full course students with those across the county.
17

Strawberries Are On Their Way
Year 10 BTEC Retail Group is beginning to see the reward for their efforts. The plants which have been
reared by the group are ready to ‗plant out‘ (hopefully, weather permitting; they will already be in their
raised beds). The area behind Sydney which has been fenced off will hopefully grow the basic
ingredients for a range of products that the group hopes to sell over the next few months. The group is
developing a wide range of possible ideas of how to market and sell their produce. Let‘s hope the
weather (and rabbits) are kind this year!
Calling all Year 8 students who are interested in MONEY - I hope to start a Stock Market Group who
will learn about the role that Stocks and Shares play in our world. I would like this group to enter a
number of competitions based on buying and selling.
Parents/Guardians - We are trying to widen the students‘ knowledge and understanding of the world of
business and finance. If you are someone who runs a small business or has insight into areas of
business and finance I would appreciate you contacting me (Mr Bruce) and discussing how we could
use your knowledge.

Personal Development Learning NEWS
Young & Enterprising
Year 7s kicked off their Enterprise Club project in January over lunch with a Business Plan workshop,
kindly led by Barclays Bank and assisted by college staff Sarah Kinsella and June Westwood, and our
Financial Governor, George Angas. The goal of the project is to provide an opportunity for students to
explore and develop their entrepreneurial skills. Students developed a product or a service to sell at an
Easter Fair and produced a Business Plan in order to receive funding (to a maximum of £10).
This project is one of a number of initiatives that form part of the college‘s PSHE/Citizenship and
Preparation for Working Life courses which are aimed at providing students with practical skills and
knowledge that they will be able to apply in their later lives. This is the first project of the recently formed
Enterprise Club which started well with a quarter of year 7s signing up to participate. Students have been
working hard each Thursday lunchtime to develop their product and game ideas to take to market at an
th
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Easter Fair on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 April in the School Hall. This Easter‘s Fair will see Lucky
dips, competitions, and a multitude of delicious cakes. All proceeds will be contributed to charity.
This is an organically growing project which will derive future direction from the student‘s own interests.
Next term we plan to involve Year 7-10 students. It would be absolutely lovely to see as many students
as possible participating in the project. The product or service that they choose to offer is only limited by
their imaginations, so if your child has a talent or the enthusiasm to participate it would be brilliant to see
them. Please encourage your child to sign up with Miss Buckler as soon as possible if they are
interested in taking part in next term‘s project.
Raising awareness of the importance of being safe on the roads and driving safely
As many year 11s may soon be heading off to don their motorcycle helmets it seems imperative that
they have some kind of input on handling themselves safely on the roads. This came from an Advanced
Driving Instructor Charlie Fleet. Thank you to Charlie. He will also be visiting the Year 10s shortly.
VIP Visits
A group of Year 8-10s were visited respectively by our local MP, Chris Huhne and the Mayor of Eastleigh
to discuss national and local democracy and government. The event gave the students an opportunity to
learn more about the role local government plays in their day-to-day lives and the relationship between
local and national government.
Miss Buckler

18

Hamble Staff Focus on Teaching and Learning
Staff from Hamble Community Sports College took part in the Eastleigh Consortium Biennial Joint
th
Conference training day on 18 March 2011. The day had one overarching theme, the seven host
st
centres looked at different strands of ‗Engaging the 21 Century Learner‘. Nearly a thousand staff were
involved attending the different venues. Staff from all schools had the opportunity to attend 3 showcase
sessions delivered by colleagues from within the Consortium, several staff from Hamble presented on
the day. The showcases highlighted best practice from a range of school from across the consortium
with practical tips and guidance.
At Hamble , our distinguished guest speaker Chris Gerry presented inspiring talk on‘ Innovative lesson
planning and curriculum design‘. We hosted 12 different showcase presenters for over 130 staff from the
Consortium schools. The day had many successes with staff keen to try out new shared strategies to
help raise standards in teaching and learning in their schools.
Mrs Mani
Professional Development Co-ordinator

Students Show Their Support for Hype
Current and former students from Hamble presented their petition and showed the councillors around
HYPE in an attempt to raise awareness of the impact of losing the invaluable service for young people.
The councillors were very impressed and even moved by the student concerns. Shona, Maddie, Lesley
and Robbie made eloquent speeches about their Youth Club. So did the older ex-students. The three
parish councils are talking about possible additional funding for youth work in their next formal meeting.
For some it is their only place to escape from other difficulties and get support.
This is a ‗hot topic‘ for the college as ‗Hype‘ is a vital resource giving advice and guidance to the
students of the College.

Hamble Ski Trip – Alpe D’Huez 2011
Alpe D‘Huez provided us with some fantastic
conditions for this year‘s Ski Trip. Glorious
sunshine and great skiing conditions greeted us
each morning as the students headed off for
their lessons. The students made brilliant
progress throughout the week and all achieved
an ‗Ecole Du Ski Francais‘ level, and certificate
card.
There were plenty of falls on the slopes but each
one was accompanied by huge smiles and
laughter, and on occasion the unfortunate sound
of a camera catching the unlucky student! The
biggest falls often featured in the evening‘s
‗Kangaroo Court‘ where Judge Lang made
verdicts on those most worthy and presented
them with awards: a clown wig, a cow hat or the
Dummy of the Day!
The students were superb all week and were a
credit to the College.
Thanks to everybody who has supported and
helped this to be a fantastic week.
Mr Richards
19

U16 Boys Basketball
The U16 boys‘ basketball team have had
rd
their best ever season yet, finishing 3 in
the Southampton and District League out of
24 teams.
They recently beat King Edward VI School
rd
51 – 34 to claim 3 spot.

Royal Marine Visit March 2011
Hamble College‟s Year 10 Public Service groups were lucky
enough to have received a visit from The Royal Marines. The visit
was a huge success with students gaining an insight into the lives
of Royal Marines. The students took part in endurance activities
which were both physically and mentally challenging but were
completed with top honours. They were absolutely superb,
despite the rain and the muddy conditions, and through gritted
teeth they continued to smile and enjoy themselves.
“One of the best group of students I have had the pleasure of
training.” – Royal Marine.

Get on your bike with Hamble Mountain Bike Club
The PE department will be running a mountain bike club which will
be aimed at introducing riders to new skills and new routes around
Hamble. You do not need to be an experienced rider, you will just
need a passion for the sport. You can bring your own bike and
helmet or you can use one of ours.
For more information see Mr Richards in the PE Office.
20

Year 4 Gymnastics Festival
th

On Monday 7 March 2011 over 100 year 4 pupils from Netley Abbey Infants and Hamble Primary
attended a year 4 gymnastics festival organised by Adam Paterson (Dynamo School of Gymnastics) and
Jeremy Ord (Hamble School Sport Partnership).
The pupils were given time before the event to prepare a routine to present on the day. Hamble split their
pupils into 5 groups and Netley presented in 2 groups.
The day was aided by pupils from Hamble Sports College (Anna Rogers, Harry Roberts and Callum Sims)
who helped show the pupils what to do.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Adam Paterson for all the effort and hard work he has done to
make the day run smoothly.
Mr Ord

Hamble Cluster Cyclo-Cross Festival
st

On Monday 21 March 2011, pupils from Hamble Primary School attended a â&#x20AC;&#x2014;Cyclo-cross Festivalâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;
organised by Jeremy Ord (SSCO at Hamble College) and Dave Jowett (British Cycling) on Mallards Moore.
The afternoon started with all pupils familiarising themselves with their bikes. This involved learning how to
sort out the height of the seats and handlebars, before moving on to how to use the gears correctly.
After the initial induction they moved on to the course. Dave had created a course through the woods at
the back of the field by placing cones so the pupils could follow the route. The first lap was a familiarisation
lap and gave them a chance to work out the perfect route and places where they could overtake. The race
was then ready to go. They did a couple of full races before the two handicap race. The final race was a
relay, in which all pupils enjoyed the opportunity of a long rest, as by this time they were all tired but still
smiling from ear to ear.
The final activity of the afternoon was a cycling-limbo contest. Pupils were told the correct technique before
having a go themselves. The bar was incredibly low at the end and the pupils were very close to
completing the lowest limbo that Dave had ever seen.
A great afternoon was had by all and everyone involved came off the field with a huge smile and a sense of
achievement.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dave Jowett for running the event; Robin Tucker for bringing up
pupils from his school and, finally, the pupils from Hamble Primary School who were fantastic. Hopefully a
few of them will take up cycling more seriously in the future.
Mr Ord

Year 2 Gymnastics Festival
(Tuesday 29 March)
TH

Adam Paterson of Dynamo ran a Year 2
Gymnastics Festival for just under 100 pupils from
Bursledon Infants and Hamble Primary
Schools. All pupils were given a thorough warm up
before practising the basic shapes required to
complete their routines.
This year was slightly different to the previous
years, as schools were given more time to prepare
and as a result there were some very good
variations of the theme. All pupils thoroughly
enjoyed the morning and had smiles on their faces
at all times.

21

Dance across the Partnership
We have had a successful term across the Hamble Sports Partnership, with many students achieving
fantastic goals within dance.
We saw over 75 children from Curdridge, Durley and Fair Oak Junior schools team together and perform at
Rock Challenge at Southampton Guildhall, coming away with the Entertainment Award. After a long day
and evening the children came away full of smiles and excitement, all their hard work really paid off! The
team have been invited to perform at The Hampshire Olympic Conference in June to be held at the
Rosebowl, so they have to put their dancing shoes back on and are looking forward to performing together
again.
We were pleased to see the Dance Leaders students at Hamble Community Sports College receive their
qualification in leadership. For their final assessment they individually delivered dance sessions at Hamble
Primary where they all showed great enthusiasm and strength of character, setting a fantastic example to the
younger children.
We are looking forward to the Hamble
School Sport Partnership Dance Festival
which will be held in June. With the 2012
Olympics ahead of us the primary schools
across the community have taken this
theme and are creating dance pieces, which
they will perform at the event.
We have a busy Summer Term planned and
are looking forward to many performance
opportunities.
Miss Hughes Hamble SSP Dance
Coordinator

Primary Link Teachers Conference March 2011
The Hamble School Sport Partnership held a successful conference for 30 primary teachers in March. The
conference focused on the Outdoor Classroom and was led by ESP (Educational Special Projects) who have
installed the ‗Famous 5‘ playground markings in all our schools.
With the theme ‗Open
Spaces Open Minds‘ the
teachers were introduced to
resources that can be used in
the outdoor classroom to
teach Maths and Literacy.

It was a practical day and
very hands- on approach; this
together with the sunshine
made it great fun as well as
useful, giving all who
attended plenty of ideas to
take back to their schools.

22

Young Ambassador Conference
th

On Tuesday 15 March, Charlene Bates (Further Education School Co-ordinator) and Kevin Mooney
(School Sports Co-ordinator) organised a Young Ambassador Conference. It was held in the new ‗Hamble
Skills Centre‘ and was attended by students and SSCO‘s from Hamble Community Sports College, Wyvern
Technology College, Wildern School and Swanmore College of Technology.
The students, representing their schools as Platinum, Gold, Silver or Adistars, were sat on three tables and
were actively encouraged to mix with students who were not from their own school in order that they could
share ideas and have the opportunity to make new friends with those holding a similar position. They had to
complete several set tasks which helped them to identify their own strengths and recognise areas for
development. They also discussed their thoughts on what makes a good leader and there were some
interesting criteria.
Also in attendance was Laura Edwards (Silver Medalist in the Gymnastics Team event at the recent
Commonwealth Games). She was asked key questions by Hannah Murphy (Platinum Ambassador) on her
support for inclusive school sport,
what drove her to success and the
values that sport gives you in life.
The afternoon was well received
by all in attendance and a great
many new and exciting ideas were
born within just a few
hours. These ideas will be
recorded and transformed into
plans by the Young Ambassadors,
with assistance from the SSCOs,
for programmes promoting the
Olympic values that can be
delivered within their own schools
and their primary cluster schools
over the next year.
The Young Apprentice program, which is sponsored by ADIDAS, will be continuing next year and it is hoped
that another conference can take place.

Yr9 Leadership Training Day
On Friday 18 March, 50 Year 9 Young Leaders attended their first training session. The one and half hour
workshop was led by Mandy Quill, Partnership Development Manager and national tutor for student
leadership. The workshop introduced the skills needed to be a good leader and provided practical activities
to develop confidence and communication. The students are leaders in a number of areas at the college
including, Art, Humanities, Modern Foreign Languages, Digital, Technology and Sport.
The current Year 9 leaders are the
first of the new Student Leadership
Programme at Hamble. All leaders
went
through
a
recruitment
process and were selected on their
commitment and hard work in
college. The college are providing
training to Student Leaders similar
to the training received by teachers
to
support
their
personal
development. The Student Leaders
will be responsible for acting as
role models, leading parents‘
evenings and organising events in
the college and wider community.

23

New Behaviour Code for The College
At Hamble we are constantly working to improve teaching and learning. We are aware that your children are
not just competing with each other but with thousands of others across the country for apprenticeships, college
places and training opportunities. I have been heading up a small working party which is looking at a whole
college approach to encourage positive behaviour and discourage low level disruption â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and so enable the
biggest impact to be made in teaching and learning in the classroom. We are involving the students by using a
survey to get their views. After a full consultation with staff we will launch a new code of conduct for
classrooms. We will let you have a copy so you can help us to reinforce it by speaking to your children about it.
The new code of conduct will be in place throughout the college in the autumn term.
In the meantime you can help by checking if your child has the correct equipment and understands that being
late to school stops them making progress.
Thankyou.
Mr Letts

Academic year 2010-2011
Term Dates
Spring term
Easter holiday from Mon 11 April 2011 to Mon 25 April 2011

Summer term
Summer Half Term holiday from Mon 30 May 2011 to Fri 3 June 2011
Summer holiday from Thu 28 July 2011 to Fri 2 September 2011